ladybug
by ulstergirl
Summary: Nancy and Ned's child asks for a new bedtime story.


**Based on a prompt from otpprompts on tumblr: Imagine your OTP trying to read their kid a bedtime story but their kid doesn't like any of the books so your OTP ends up telling their kid the story of how they met. I modified it slightly.**

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"Daddy."

Ned looked down just as he felt a tugging against the seam of his jeans, near his knee. Elizabeth was gazing up at him, her dark eyes wide. Her red hair, the color of autumn, brushed feather-light against her slim shoulders.

"Hey ladybug," Ned said with a smile. "Won't be long. I'm just putting the chicken nuggets on the pan to cook."

She tugged once more. "Mommy sleep."

"Hmm." He moved back, putting a protective hand on her shoulder as he opened the oven door, and put the chicken nuggets in the oven and set the timer. Then he scooped up his daughter and gave her a hug. "Mommy's asleep, huh?"

She nodded solemnly, and when he gently kissed the tip of her nose, she wrinkled it and giggled. "Daddy," she drawled.

"I missed you, sweetie."

"Miss you too," she said, and snuggled against him, her arms up around his neck. "You're my favorite daddy."

Ned chuckled. "And you're my favorite ladybug in the whole world."

He carried her into the living room. Nancy had a cold, and she had curled up at one end of the couch, her nose reddened from blowing it so much. The room was warm but she had pulled an afghan over her legs, and she still had a tissue in one fist.

"Mommy _is_ asleep," Ned murmured, as Beth turned to look at her mother. Neither of them wanted Beth to get sick, so she was under strict orders to stay away from Nancy until she felt better. And, just like her mother, she had done everything she could to get around that rule. Ned remembered vividly how as a baby Beth would sometimes wail until her mother could hold her and shush her, stroking her fine hair and smiling as she looked into Beth's dark, brimming eyes, singing to her until she was quiet and happy again. Other nights Beth had been the warm bundle cuddled against Ned's shoulder and chest as he rocked her to sleep, while Nancy tried to get just a little more rest.

Beth squirmed a little, asking Ned to let her down, but he shook his head. "C'mon, baby girl. Let's go back to the kitchen and pick out some soup for Mommy, okay? She's still feeling bad."

Beth picked out her favorite, the chicken noodle, for her mother, and Ned heated it up while he set the table. Beth had chicken nuggets along with mashed potatoes left over from the night before, and strawberry yogurt with two strawberries he chopped up and put on top. Nancy walked into the kitchen, the afghan draped over her shoulders, just as Ned was beginning to wonder whether he should take her soup to her.

"Mommy!"

"Hey," Nancy said with a smile, although her voice was a little gravelly. She coughed into the tissue she carried. "Baby, I'd hold you but I don't want to make you sick."

Beth's lower lip poked out as she gazed up at her mother. "Mommy sick," she murmured.

"Yeah, sweetie. But I'll be better soon. Mmm, chicken noodle soup."

Ned took care of clearing up the dinner plates and giving Beth her bath, and then he tucked her in bed. Nancy had already headed to bed; he could hear her coughing in their room, and the sound made him cringe. He knew she was miserable.

"So, ladybug, what story tonight?" Ned looked through the books on the shelf beside her bed. Nancy was making her way through a book of fairy tales with Beth; he could see the bookmark sticking out. "Another fairy tale?"

"Nooo," Beth replied.

"A train story? I see one about a fire engine. Didn't your Aunt George give you that one?"

Beth nodded. "Daddy?"

"Hmm?"

"Story about Mommy?"

"You want to hear a story about Mommy?"

Beth nodded, her eyes bright with interest. "Miss Mommy."

"I know, ladybug." He gently brushed a loose strand of red hair from her forehead. "I'll tell you a little one. About when I met your mommy, okay?"

Beth nodded, and cuddled her favorite stuffed animal, a blue pig she had named Tom, close to her.

"So I met your mommy on a day when I saw a house on fire and I stopped to help the people who might be inside."

"Fire?" Beth's eyes were wide and round.

"Mmm-hmm." He stroked Beth's hair. "I jumped out of my car, and I was feeling very brave, but I didn't see anyone. No one was hurt in the fire, so that was okay. I saw a pretty blue car, though. I had never seen it before, and the fire was coming close to it. So I climbed into it and started to move it. And then the prettiest girl I had ever seen in the entire world, who had hair like yours but shot through with gold like the sun, and the most beautiful dark blue eyes, ran up to me and asked what I was doing. And she was your mommy. She had stopped to help people who might be in the fire, too, because she's so brave. She was mad at me because she thought I was trying to steal her car."

Beth's eyes were still wide. "No," she whispered.

"But I would never steal a car. So I asked if it was her car, and told her what I was doing, and she wasn't mad anymore. Later that day I saw her again, and I asked if she and your Aunt Bess and Aunt George would come to the ice cream parlor in Mapleton, where your Nana and Papa live, and have ice cream with me. And I thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world."

Beth nodded, still spellbound. "Prettiest mommy," she murmured.

"Uh-huh. She's the prettiest mommy in the whole world. Just like you're the sweetest, prettiest ladybug in the whole world. My two best girls. You're so smart and brave, just like your mommy. And I love you to the moon and back."

Beth's grin put dimples in her cheeks, and she sat up and hugged Ned. "Love you moon and back," she repeated, and he stroked her back.

Then he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Now go to sleep, ladybug. Sweet dreams."

"Sweet dreams, Daddy."

Ned tucked the blanket over her, and when he glanced up, he saw Nancy standing in the doorway. She smiled at him, but didn't say anything; Ned flipped Beth's lights off, making sure that her moon and stars nightlight was on. Then he followed Nancy back to their room.

"I love you too," Nancy murmured, as they settled beneath the covers together. "Both of you. My sun and my moon and all my stars."

He stroked her back. "The prettiest mommy in the whole world. And the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

She chuckled, trying to stifle a cough. "I miss being able to hold my baby."

"And she misses you too."

"And if you keep hugging me, soon neither one of us will be able to hold her," Nancy pointed out.

"True." Ned kissed the crown of her head anyway. "Love you, Nan."

"Love you too." She nestled against him, and they fell asleep together.


End file.
